


Settling Down

by thatsmistertoyou



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drinking Games, Drunken Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Morning Kisses, Party, Phandom Big Bang, phandom big bang 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-19 09:30:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3605085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsmistertoyou/pseuds/thatsmistertoyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan and Phil go to an arcade and get to talking about kids and commitment. They then get drunk with other YouTubers, who force them to reconsider their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Settling Down

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to stage two of old fic posting: fics I'm actually still proud of! Some of these are a bit old but I think they hold up and more accurately represent my current writing abilities. Enjoy, and thank you for reading <3   
> x  
> Original A/N: Massive thanks to Gina for being a fabulous beta; couldn’t have made this what it was without you! Enjoy ^.^

Dan and Phil ambled down a relatively crowded street in London. They had never been to this particular part of town before. That wasn’t unusual, really - London was a huge city and they barely left their flat -but nonetheless, they were excited to explore a new comic book store and arcade. (If you could look past the fact that they were two grown men and it was a Friday afternoon, their anticipation was perfectly understandable.)

 

Phil’s eyes were fixed on his phone, as he was using the GPS to guide them.

“I think it should be somewhere around here…” Phil mused, tapping the screen and continuing to walk forward. Dan spotted the store just as they were passing it, and came to a stop at the entrance.

“Phil, we’re - “ Dan glanced over his shoulder, but Phil had kept strolling, still scowling at his phone. “PHIL!” Dan called to him, but he didn’t even look up. Dan dodged a few determined-looking businesspeople and caught up to Phil. He gently grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. “We passed it,” Dan said, pointing to the sign above the door.

“Oh.” Dan heard Phil mumble something about his phone losing the signal but tuned him out as they made their way back and into the shop.

They browsed the manga for a while. Admittedly, it was difficult to concentrate on making a sensible purchase with the lights, bells, and whistles of the classic arcade games beckoning to them. Over the top of all the noise of the games, shrieks of prepubescent boys dominated the arcade.

“I’m not seeing anything I want to buy,” Dan said. “My inner 13 year old is dying to play the games.”

 _“SWISS FUCKING CHEESE,”_ one of the boys yelled.

“I think I found your outer 13 year old,” Phil said, looking around cautiously, as if making sure there weren’t any innocent ears that could be tainted by the vulgarity.

Dan laughed. “C’mon,” he said, leading the way to the back of the store.

Dan slipped a ten pound note into the token machine, and scooped the coins into his hand. “Let’s do this,” he declared, offering Phil half of them.

They took turns on the Pacman game, Dan shouting somewhat unwanted advice over Phil’s shoulder when it was his friend’s turn.

“Get the cherry, get the cherry! Watch out for the red one-”

The game made a disappointed noise as Phil accidentally led Pacman to his demise. Phil shook his head.

“You know, it really doesn’t help when you do that.” He stepped aside and handed Dan their final token.

“I’m the master, Phil. Who wouldn’t want my guidance?” Dan proclaimed, and Phil rolled his eyes.

The bell attached to the door of the shop gave a small  _ding_  as a group of about ten children entered. A very flustered looking mother pushing a pram herded them through. Her attempts to tell them to behave were drowned out by excited squeals. She sighed as the kids took off running in different directions, and knelt down to the pram. When she straightened back up, a flustered infant boy was cradled in her arms.

Phil watched her attempt to soothe him, his chubby face peeking over her shoulder as she bounced him gently. Phil smiled; the child was adorable, even with his expression scrunched up in frustrated tears.

 _“Fucking bag of dicks,”_ Dan spat, dragging Phil back to reality.

“Shhh,” Phil said, both to Dan and the child. Dan followed his gaze, a small smile curving his lips. He glanced back to Phil, who was making funny faces.

“He won’t be able to see you from here, Phil,” Dan commented. “Babies have worse eyesight than you do.”

Phil shushed him again, continuing to try to make the baby laugh. Dan rolled his eyes.  

“Not getting any younger over here, Phil. Need vengeance on this game,” he whined, nudging Phil in the ribs.

“Right, yeah,” Phil said, taking his cue that it was his turn to buy the tokens. His eyes scanned over the kids who had come with the woman, all of whom were happily playing. On auto-pilot, he pulled a note from his wallet and shoved it into the token machine, which released a lot more coins than he was expecting with a series of loud clangs.

“Phil, that was a twenty pound note,” Dan said flatly. “If you had stopped creepily staring at children, maybe you would have noticed.”

“Oh, yeah,” Phil said distractedly, hurriedly scooping the coins into his hands.

“What’s up with you? You gotta getcha head in the game!” Dan said with a grin, half to amuse himself and half to make sure that Phil was paying attention.

“My head’s in the game, but my heart’s in the song, Dan,” Phil said seriously.

Dan laughed. “What does that even mean?”

Phil paused, breaking eye contact. “You ever think about kids? Like, having kids of your own?”

Dan raised his eyebrows. With all the longing stares, he should have predicted that this was where the conversation was going. “Yes. I’d be the best dad ever. But I’m not so ready that I’d go to an arcade just to observe them.”

“That’s not why -”

“Then  _play_ _,”_  Dan insisted, finally looking down at the pile of tokens cupped in Phil’s hands. “Shit, that’s a lot. The hell are we gonna do with all of those?” he mused, his eyes scanning over the arcade.

“C’mon, I have an idea,” Dan said, answering his own question. He grabbed Phil by the forearm and lead him to the claw machine, which was packed to the brim with stuffed animals.

“Dan, we have more plushies than we know what to do with.”

“They’re not for us,” he replied with a smile, glancing to the kids then back at Phil, who returned his grin.

“Think we can get one for all of them?”

“We better, with all of these tokens. Besides, I’m the  _master_ of these things.”

“If your mastery of this game is the same as that of Pacman, then these poor kids will get nothing,” Phil teased.

“Shut up,” Dan said, grabbing a coin and depositing it into the game.

The claw sprung to life, closing and opening several times, before it was swung to the middle of the console and the timer started. An obnoxious beeping counted down the twenty seconds Dan had to secure a toy. He pushed the joystick, guiding the claw to the left, where the opening that the toy would be dropped into was.

“The trick is to never pick from the middle. Even if you can snag one, it’ll always fall before it gets to the hole.”

“Good to know,” Phil said, moving to the side of the game to get a different view. “Little to the right,” Phil advised, so the claw would be optimally positioned over a stuffed elephant. “Yeah, there. That should be good.”

“God, this entire conversation could be taken so out of context,” Dan muttered, waiting for the claw to be dropped.

Both of them held their breath as the claw poised over the elephant, then dropped and enclosed it. It stayed within the confines of the claws, and was deposited into the prize slot.

“Yes!” Dan cried, crouching down to retrieve it. He handed it to Phil.

“Good job,” Phil said, offering his hand up for a high five. Dan slapped it, too hard, and they both groaned and shook their hands.

“We need to sort that out,” Dan said, grimacing. “Too much enthusiasm.” He moved aside to allow Phil to take his turn.

Phil set his jaw in concentration, and eyed his target of a stuffed ladybird.

“You got this, Phil. Everyone’s on your side,” Dan encouraged, doing the same as Phil had and moving around the machine to ensure the best possible angle of attack.

Once he had done that, Dan leaned against the game, his eyes wandering to a trio of girls playing the Whack-A-Mole. Two of them controlled the mallets, while the third tried to help by just using her hands, inevitably getting smacked by her friends in the process. But she just laughed, as did the other two, as the mole announced that they had won, and spat out a string of yellow tickets. The girls literally jumped for joy, and proceeded to the next game.

Dan felt something soft hit his shoulder, and turned to see Phil had chucked the ladybird at him.

“Stop that,” Phil mocked, handing Dan a token. “Having second thoughts, are we?”

“Maybe,” Dan said, inserting the coin and positioning the claw with ease. “You might be onto something. ‘Course, I’m not the one whose biological clock is ticking.”

“What d’you mean?”

“I think you might be close to going through  _the change_ _,_  Phil,” Dan said, unable to hold a straight face, which earned him a shove from Phil.

“Actually shut up,” Phil said indignantly. “I’m nearly 30, Dan. I’ve always wanted to settle down and have kids and all of that. Now would be a good time to start seriously considering it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Now, when the right person comes along, I’ll be ready.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Dan said, somewhat sourly, as he easily snagged another toy from the machine.

The thought of Phil settling down made Dan’s chest clench, mostly because that would mean he would move out. He didn’t plan on living with Phil forever, of course; the thought was childish. Years ago, he had this fantasy that they’d both marry someone, have kids, and live next door to each other. Their children would be the best of friends. That, too, was a silly daydream. Dan had long since accepted that - or at least he thought he had- but he still didn’t like to dwell on the prospect of not getting to see Phil every single day.

“Have you ever thought about it?” Phil asked gently as he took his turn. He was watching Dan carefully as the machine did its thing.

“‘Course I have. Always seemed like something in the distant future, though,” Dan said, idly watching a few boys play a racing game. “Maybe it’s closer than I thought.”

Phil poked Dan’s face to get his attention, exactly where his dimple would be. Dan felt a blush creeping up his face because Phil knew exactly where to point.

“Your turn,” Phil said unnecessarily. He leaned against the machine, and they switched places once again.

It was true that as Phil got older he thought more seriously about settling down. But what did that even _mean?_ Having a stable job? Check. Having a place of your own? Check. Being in a serious relationship? Not check.

That was something that always nagged at the back of Phil’s mind. But he didn’t want a girlfriend or boyfriend just for the sake of it. He was satisfied with how his life was now. He was happy and successful and he had everything he ever wanted.  _I guess I just want someone to share it with,_ Phil admitted to himself.

“Earth to Phil?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What a productive conversation we’re having,” Dan replied sarcastically.

“This is deep stuff, Dan. It requires a lot of pensive silence and suspicious staring at children.”

“Clearly.”

“How many toys do we have?”

“Five. We need seven more.”

“Coming right up.”

They completed their objective easily and in mostly comfortable silence.

“That was almost too easy,” Phil commented as they double checked that they had enough pushies.

“Well, this arcade is relatively new. They haven’t figured out that rigging the games makes them more money.”

They gathered up the toys, and Dan took the lead as he strode up to the mother of the group. The baby boy she had been cradling earlier was now fast asleep in his stroller.

“Hi, um, we had too many tokens, so we won these for you,” he told her. She looked from Dan to Phil and back, her facing lighting up with sincere gratitude.

“Thank you so much. The kids will love them,” she said, picking up a giraffe and placing it in the buggy.

“KIDS!” she called to the others, and they gathered around. How kids looked at them always amused Dan: their eyes trailed slowly upward until their heads were completely tilted back, in awe of how anyone could be so tall.

“These nice men won all of you a cuddly toy. Now, it’s Emma’s birthday, so she gets to pick first.”

Dan and Phil knelt down and presented the toys. A girl bounced forward, a sparkly crown indicating that she was the birthday girl going askew in her blonde curls. She shyly plucked the ladybird from Phil’s arms, and the rest of the kids ambushed them, eager to select their own .

When all the kids had picked, and the mother ensured they all had said thank you, there was a purple frog left.

“For you, madam,” Phil said, standing up and offering it to the mother.

She grinned once more. “Thank you, really. That was very kind of you.”

The infant in the pram stirred once more, and his mother sighed. “Should have known better than to bring him here. Too many loud noises.”

Phil crouched down in front of the pram, smiling. “Hey there, no need for tears. May I?” he asked, his hands poised to pick him up. The mother agreed, and Phil lifted the child into his arms, careful to support his head.

“What’s his name?” Dan asked, watching Phil carefully.

“Daniel,” she said.

“Mine too.”

“Oh, what a funny coincidence. I’ve always loved that name.” She went on about how it’s always been a popular name, and it was her grandad’s name, but Dan was barely listening. He was entranced by how easily Phil interacted with the baby. How he smiled down at him, rocked him gently, and hummed something Dan didn’t recognize. Phil was really a natural, it seemed. Phil finally looked back up at Dan, and blushed a little at how intently Dan was staring at him.

“Do you wanna hold him, Dan?”

“Sure.” Dan let Phil show him how to position his arms, and baby Daniel settled into them quite nicely. The baby stared up at Dan with wide, curious eyes, and reached up to Dan’s face. Dan leaned down so the baby could touch his cheek, and he smiled when the small fingers grasped at his cheek.

“See, he likes your dimples too,” Phil said quietly, poking at the crater in Dan’s cheek, making Dan’s face grow hot.

They had nearly forgotten the baby’s mother was there when she spoke up. “Have you two considered adopting?” she asked brightly. They both went fire engine red.

“Oh, no, we’re not - “ Dan stammered, nearly releasing his grip on the baby in shock.

“Dan -” Phil chastised, reaching under Dan’s arms to make sure baby Daniel was secure.

“Sorry,” he said, allowing Phil to return the boy to his mother.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just thought you might be -” she said, equally embarrassed.

“No, it’s fine,” Phil insisted. “We should get going, anyway. Ready to go, Dan?”

“Yeah, I think so. Oh, here,” he said, reaching into his pocket and giving the woman their remaining tokens.

“Thanks,” she said. “Thank you for everything. It was nice to meet you,” she said with a smile. They both returned the pleasantries, but edged closer to the door with every word.

It wasn’t like being accused of being a couple was new to them - but by a random stranger? And to suggest adoption? She must have thought they were  _married,_ for God’s sake.

Phil held the door for Dan, who mumbled a thank you before stepping out into the chilly night air. They had been in the arcade for a few hours, and it was nearly dinnertime.

“Want to get Chinese food for dinner? Let’s just go to the restaurant - it’s only round the corner,” Phil suggested, and Dan nodded.

Dan kept his arms crossed over his chest, pensively silent the whole walk there. Phil didn’t even need to make him speak, though; he knew exactly what Dan wanted, and ordered for both of them.

“Dan, what’s wrong?” Phil finally asked while they were waiting for their food.

“Nothing, I was just wondering… Why do people assume we’re a couple?”

Phil raised his eyebrows. “Do I need to direct you to tumblr?”

“No,” Dan replied, rolling his eyes. “The people of tumblr do what they will. I mean like, in everyday life? That’s not the first time that’s happened.”

“I dunno, I mean, we  _are_  best friends.”

“Right,” Dan agreed, unable to keep a small smile from his face. “But there’s gotta be something that makes someone who doesn’t know us make assumptions. You know what I mean?”

“Yes, but I don’t have a good answer,” replied Phil. He looked down at his phone, refusing to meet Dan’s eyes.

Silence with Phil was usually comfortable, but something about this particular one made Dan roll his shoulders and feel the need to fill it.

“Did Louise ever get back to you about tomorrow?” Dan asked, suddenly remembering that they had plans for the next day.

“Yeah, she said whenever we get there is fine. She’ll definitely be ready.”

“Ugh,  _morning people_ _,”_  Dan grimaced.

“They tend to be productive members of society, though. What time did you have in mind?”

They decided to leave for Louise’s flat by 11 the next morning, much to Dan’s chagrin. As much as he tried, he just couldn’t bring himself to enjoy being out of bed before noon.

He was looking forward to spending time with Louise, though. They had been meaning to hang out and film with her for ages, and finally had a free Saturday in which to do it. Their radio show was already prepared, so they didn’t have to worry about that. As long as they were at the BBC by 4pm on Sunday, they were set.

x

When they finally returned to their flat, Phil plopped the bag of takeaway onto the dining table and went to the kitchen. Dan immediately grabbed his box and a pair of chopsticks and settled onto the couch.

 _“Dan,”_ Phil chastised, unpacking the rest of the meal from the bag. “Can we pretend to be civilised?”

“It’s like you don’t know me at all,” Dan said, his voice muffled by the noodles he had crammed into his mouth.

“Humour me,” Phil said flatly. “You can pick what we watch.” Phil sat down and pulled Dan’s chair from the table, patting it to indicate that that was where Dan belonged.

“Fine,” Dan conceded, grabbing the remote on his way to the table and resuming their American Horror Story marathon.

After they had finished their dinner, they transferred to the couch, allowing Netflix autoplay to consume them. Before Phil knew it, the clock read 2:31 am, and he was positively melting into the sofa. He wondered how long he had nodded off for, shifting around a bit, only to notice a soft weight on his arm. Evidently, Dan had dozed off as well, and was curled up next to Phil with his cheek pressed to Phil’s upper arm.

Dan was a heavy sleeper; nothing less than a nuclear incident could wake him up when he was in deep sleep, like a bear in hibernation. If Phil moved, Dan would just flop onto the couch and continue sleeping. But Phil couldn’t bring himself to move.

Dan really was adorable when he slept. His ruffled hair covered most of his face, his lips slightly parted as he let out slow, steady breaths. Phil smiled, gently brushing Dan’s hair from his face. Yes, it would be a sin to move from this spot right now.

So Phil was content to check twitter for a while, catching himself brushing his fingers against Dan’s knee soothingly. It wasn’t like physical touch was anything new to them; it was just complicated. How far was too far, and did either of them even want to find out? Phil gave his head a little shake to clear it; that was not a subject he needed to contemplate while Dan was snuggled up next to him being all cute.

Dan stirred, rubbing his face against Phil’s sleeve as he came to. He must have only just fallen asleep, then, if that little bit of movement woke him up.

“Morning, sleepy bear.”

“It’s  _not_  morning, is it?” Dan groaned, finally realizing how he was positioned. He sat up too quickly, and stars flashed across his field of vision.

“Nope, but it’s almost 3am. Let’s get to bed.”

“Excellent idea,” Dan agreed, rolling his shoulders and accepting Phil’s outstretched hand to help him up.

They ambled to their respective rooms to get ready for bed. Dan stripped off his shirt and changed into pyjama bottoms before going to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Phil joined him moments later, and Dan watched him remove his contact lenses.

“What?” Phil asked, propping his eye open with his fingers and plucking the tiny circle of plastic from his eye. Dan shuddered.

“How do you  _do_ that?” Dan mumbled, squeezing the tube of toothpaste too hard as he cringed. Twice as much as he needed came out, and he sighed. He picked up Phil’s toothbrush and applied some of the extra paste to it.

“That’s only the third time you’ve done that this week,” Phil muttered. “Do I need to teach you how to squeeze a tube of toothpaste?”

Dan stuck his tongue out at Phil before shoving the brush into his mouth. “As if you’d let it go to waste,” Dan said, his words muffled by the toothbrush.

“That’s the only reason I put up with your cooties.”

Phil began scrubbing his teeth, only to bump elbows with Dan, who was standing to Phil’s right side. Dan bumped back, and soon there was more playful shoving than teeth brushing going on.

Phil had to cover his mouth to keep the foam in, as he was now giggling furiously. He spat into the sink and rinsed his mouth out; all the while Dan was bouncing into him with his hips.

“Are you Sexy End Screen Dancing into me?” Phil questioned, straightening up and wiping his face with a towel while Dan spat.

“Depends. Was it a strange mix of sexy, disconcerting, and altogether uncomfortable?”

“Not sure. I’m just not about that life,” Phil said, putting on his best American accent. Dan laughed, giving Phil one final bump as he exited the bathroom and walked to his room.

“Night, Phil.”

“Sweet dreams.”

x

With much coaxing from Phil, Dan was able to get out of bed, dressed, and ready to go to Louise’s by 11am. They were on the tube shortly thereafter, and settled in for the hour-long journey. After half an hour of playing games on his phone, the battery had drained over twenty percent. Dan sighed, figuring he should conserve it a little, and turned his attention to Phil, who was playing a game as well.

Dan lazily glanced around the train, but none of the passengers held his interest. An old woman had nodded off in the corner, and Dan briefly considered waking her. After all, she could miss her stop. He decided to wait a few minutes, as the announcer would probably wake her up.

“Hey, Phil,” Dan said quietly, glancing over to the woman. Phil paused his game and followed his friend’s gaze.

“What?”

“What’s her story?”

“What d’you mean?”

“Why is she on the train? Or, better yet, sleeping on the train?” Dan said, his mouth forming a half-smile. Phil understood and played along.

“Ex-secret agent. She’s trained herself to sleep for small time intervals so she can spend the rest of it taking surveillance.”

“Or the outsides of her eyelids have tiny cameras and are recording us right now.”

“You think?”

“You never know, that’s why it’s called surveillance.”

“True enough,” Phil agreed, and the train curved sharply along the track, jerking all of the passengers. The ex-secret agent woman opened her eyes, and they turned their attention to other people on the train, making up stories about them to pass the time.

x

Louise greeted them both with big hugs, and invited them inside her house. It was a gorgeously decorated place, as one might expect from a beauty guru, and had clearly been spruced up for their arrival. She offered them drinks and snacks, and showed them around, as they had never actually been to her flat before.

“And this might look familiar,” she said, opening the door to the room next to the lounge. The coziest, pinkest room to ever exist met their eyes.

“Ah, this is where you film your videos,” said Phil, and he clambered onto the bed and stroked a fuzzy pillow. “So comfy.”

“I won’t lie, I thought this was your actual bedroom,” Dan commented.

“I sleep in here with Darcy sometimes, if she can’t sleep,” said Louise. “But no, Matt’s not fond enough of it. So it’s a video-filming slash guest room.”

“I see,” Dan replied. “I like the unironic use of fairy lights.”

Louise rolled her eyes. “You know, it’s okay to just  _like_  fairy lights. And I know you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have them on your bed.”

“How do you know that?” Dan asked pointlessly, knowing that Louise watched his videos. Having friends who were also YouTubers was great, but sometimes it got weird. Occasionally, a friend would tell a story and he’d feel the need to say, ‘I know, I saw that vlog from two weeks ago.’

Louise just ignored him, and sat next to Phil on the bed.

“I want all of these pillows,” Phil declared, laying back on them and miming making a snow angel. Louise picked one up.

“Well, I got this one from IKEA. It’s soft and perfect for throwing at people,” she said, tossing it at Dan and missing. He picked it up and threw it back lazily. She grabbed it and hit Phil in the stomach.

“Nooooo,” Phil whined. “I’ve hardly recovered from the last pillow fight,” he said, pulling another cushion over his face. Dan smiled to himself, remembering the incident a few nights prior, from which he had emerged victorious.

“Right,  _pillow fight_ _,”_  Louise teased, shooting Dan a coy wink. Before he could open his mouth to protest, she declared that they should start filming.

x

After several productive hours of filming, and several more of unproductive goofing off, they all had enough footage to work with.

Matt had been out running errands with Darcy all day, and returned soon after they had finished filming. Louise cooked for the five of them, and they shared a nice dinner, during which Phil was completely enamoured with Darcy. She had taken a shine to him, insisting that they play together when dinner was over.

“What do you want to play?” Phil asked, stooping down to his knees so he’d be closer to her level.

“Hairdresser!” she exclaimed, ruffling Phil’s hair. Phil’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

“As long as you don’t cut my hair and sell it on eBay,” he mumbled, making Dan crack up laughing. She ran from the room to retrieve her hairstyling tools, which Phil figured would be real. Oh well, he could shower when they got home.

Dan sat cross-legged on the floor next to Phil, a smug smile on his face. In response to Phil’s dirty look, he said, “No way am I going to miss this. She’ll make you look so pretty, Phil.”

“I  _am_  pretty, thank you very much.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”

Before Phil could overthink that statement, he heard footsteps coming towards them. Louise took a seat next to them.

“So, I was thinking, I have all this alcohol I’m not using, and I’ve been meaning to invite some friends over.”

Dan raised his eyebrows. “We’re already here.”

“Oh yes, you two bring the party wherever you go,” she said with a laugh. “Well, I’ve already got a few people coming over around ten: Ben, Jack, and Tom. ”

“How come you didn’t tell us before?” Phil asked.

“Well,” she said, staring pointedly at Dan, “I was afraid a certain someone might not want to come.”

“Really, Louise? You think that little of my sociability?”

“Yes.”

“Fair enough.”

“Zoe’s not coming?” Phil questioned.

“Nope. She’s got date night with Alfie this time. I had better get ready for testosterone overload.”

“No kidding,” said Dan. Darcy clambered back into the room, her arms full of hair products.

“You gonna do Phil’s hair?” said Louise encouragingly. “He’ll look so groomed for the party later.”

“Is she staying?” Dan asked quietly. They were all responsible adults, but Dan wasn’t altogether fond of the idea of Darcy being around when a bunch of people who talked for a living started consuming alcohol.

Louise shook her head. “Daddy’s taking you to Grandmummy’s soon, right? It’ll be a fun sleepover.”

Darcy nodded, but was too preoccupied with examining her workspace of Phil’s head. She began brushing his dark locks, smoothing each section carefully as she did so.

“Good job, Darcy! That’s right, nice and gentle,” Louise said, in response to Phil’s tense body language. He relaxed, leaning back on his hands and appreciating the fact that Darcy was just tall enough to see the top of his head while he was sat down.

Dan watched Darcy style a bow into Phil’s hair, a smile plastered on his face the whole time. He couldn’t decide what aspect of this image was the most precious: Darcy, Phil, or the two of them having fun together. And Phil made no protests, even when Darcy used hairspray, carefully covering his eyes with her small hands and she did so.

“Maybe you’re onto something,” Dan said quietly as Darcy left the room to retrieve a mirror.

“What d’you mean?”

“Kids. Parenting. Settling down. Seems kinda nice.”

“Yeah, apparently parenting is fabulous,” he said, running his hand over his stiff fringe, which was held back by a clip.

“You’d make a great dad,” Dan said, staring at his hands. Phil bumped shoulders with him.

“So would you, you know,” he said, and Dan looked up at him. They smiled at each other for a few moments, before Dan cracked up laughing at Phil’s hairstyle.

Darcy returned with a hand mirror, and Phil admired his new look. “Wow, look at how nice that is. I had forgotten what my forehead looked like.”

Darcy smiled, and threw her arms around his shoulders. Phil squeezed her tight, and Dan caught himself grinning from ear to ear.

x

Phil had washed his hair out, and it was still wet when the other guests arrived. Jack, Ben, and Tom were all happy to see them.

“Hey, Phil,” Ben greeted him, giving him a clap on the back. “It’s been a while.”

“Much too long,” Phil agreed, and turned to the others to say hello.

All six of them gathered around the kitchen, ignoring the close quarters as Tom mixed drinks for everyone.

“What will it be?” he asked Phil as he shook a cocktail for Ben. Dan spoke up for him.

“Phil will have the girliest drink you can think of.”

“Shut  _up_ _,_ ” Phil said, shoving him. “For your information, the cocktails I drink are refreshing and ten times better than the lighter fluid you drink.”

“Hey, I never said I didn’t like cocktails. I just don’t drink raspberry beer.”

“Oh, that’s enough, children,” Tom said, laughing and shaking his head. “I know what to make for you.”

Tom poured off their drinks a few minutes later, serving them up the same concoction. They clinked glasses (“here’s to social lubrication”, Dan had toasted), and downed the red liquid. Dan smacked his lips.

“Cherry? I like it.”

“Good,” said Tom, and his attention was diverted to Jack, who was dying for another of whatever Tom had mixed him.

After a fair amount of alcohol had been consumed all around, the six of them found themselves sitting in a circle, cross-legged on the floor of the lounge. Dan and Phil had gotten the least of the drinks’ effects, as they had had less than everyone else. But they were all tipsy; that much could not be denied.

“Let’s play a game,” Ben declared. “Never have I ever. Take a shot whenever you’ve done something. I’ll start.” He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated his choices. “Never have I ever been to France.”

Dan sighed in relief, and happily reached for a shot.

“What’s that? Eager for more?” Jack teased him, taking one himself, and handing one each to Dan, Phil, and Louise.

“Not particularly. Just, that was a very innocent start,” Dan replied. Jack raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t you ever played this game? It turns into a weird game of sexual comparison very quickly.”

“Great,” Phil said, gulping down his shot.

“I’m offended that you’d assume that, Dan,” Ben said. “Your turn.”

“Okay, uh…” he glanced around the circle, searching for inspiration. “Never have I ever kissed someone on camera,” he said, with a smirk to Jack and Ben.

“Oh, c’mon,” Jack exclaimed.

“I think you need to take more than one for that, Jack,” said Louise, hiding a giggle behind her hands. “Pornstars do that less than you.” Even Jack couldn’t hold back laughter, and he shrugged and took his shot in stride, handing one to Ben.

“Worth it,” Ben said, knocking it back. “Jack’s a great kisser.”

“Wouldn’t doubt it,” said Louise.

“Your turn, Phil,” said Dan.

He thought quietly for a few moments, glancing at the others for inspiration. “Never have I ever had a piercing.”

Dan, Ben, and Louise all groaned, agreeing that that was a lame one.

“It’s all I could think of!” Phil said indignantly, watching Dan down his shot in one smooth gulp.

They made their way around the circle, and Ben capped himself at three shots, deciding that was a more than reasonable limit. Louise, too, had had enough, so only the other four boys remained. Ben remained very vocal about the events of the game, though, and did not skip over his own turn on the next go round.

“Never have I ever played Spin the Bottle,” he said, his speech a little slurred.

“No one has, that only happens on American tv shows,” said Tom, shaking his head.

“I have,” said Dan, but he refused another shot. He had lost count, but he was beginning to feel quite buzzed. “Was my first tongue kiss, actually.”

“I know,” Louise teased with a giggle.

“Yeah, really,” Dan said indignantly, “don’t you people watch my videos?”

“I do,” Phil said quietly, and Dan had to smile at him.

“I know, Phil. You helped me decide what to include in that one.”

“Awww,” Ben commented. “How sweet.”

“Shove off,” Dan said, feeling his face grow hot- and not just from the alcohol.

“While we’re on the subject of kissing games,” Jack said, “never have I ever played Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

“Were any of you actually teenagers?” Dan said. “I mean, I haven’t, either, but really. Spin the Bottle? That one’s a classic for pre-pubescent embarrassment.”

“I’ve played Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Phil offered. “It’s as awful as it sounds. It was so awkward. Pretty sure the girl didn’t even know my name until we were shoved into that cupboard together.”

“Oh, dear,” Louise said, shaking her head.

“I played it once when I was about twelve,” said Tom. “Was nice cos I had a major crush on the girl. Wasn’t so nice cos I had no idea what I was doing.”

“Amen to that,” said Dan, rubbing his temples, as if it would drive away the cringey memories.

“So if you play it with someone you like, and you know what you’re doing, it wouldn’t be so bad?” Jack mused.

“Guess not,” said Phil.

A wicked grin curved Ben’s face, and Dan’s stomach turned over when he said, very slowly, “I dare Dan and Phil to play it.”

 _“What?”_ said Phil, evidently not trusting his senses. He didn’t chance a look at Dan.

“I think you two should play it. Could be fun,” Ben said.

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Dead serious,” he said, throwing a look to Jack.

“One-hundred percent serious,” Jack added.  

“Could be an interesting experiment, yes,” said Tom.

Both Dan and Phil threw pleading glances to Louise, who just shrugged, her hands covering her mouth to quiet her giggles. “I think I’ll be overruled if I protested.”

“You hear that, Phil?” said Dan, finally looking at his friend. “It’s the sound of the bus that they’ve all just thrown us under.”

Phil didn’t reply, though he did look extremely apprehensive. Ben and Jack stood up, dragging the pair to their feet, and, despite their protests, shutting them in the pink guest room.

Dan slammed his fist on the door, but Phil touched his arm gently.

“Relax, Dan. No reason to get angry.” Phil sat down on the bed and patted the space beside him. Dan widened his eyes.

“You’re not saying -”

“No, no,” Phil stammered, and his face grew redder. “Just figured, you know, we’re in here for seven minutes. Might as well get comfortable.”

“Right,” Dan agreed cautiously, making his way to the bed. It had never felt weirder to be on a bed with Phil. They exchanged glances, and both started cracking up.

“This is so ridiculous,” said Dan. “They didn’t actually think this would work, did they?”

“No idea,” said Phil, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he giggled.

“So glad we’re all mature adults here!” Dan yelled, unnecessarily loudly, as they were probably all crowded around the door.

“Less talking, more kissing,” Ben said in a singsong voice, confirming Dan’s suspicions.

Dan smirked, bringing his hand to his face and making out with it furiously. Phil had to shove his face in a pillow to keep from making inhuman cackling noises.

“Oh,  _Phil,_ ” Dan moaned dramatically. “You taste like cherries and sunshine.” Phil smacked him with a pillow.

“No wonder you didn’t become an actor,” Phil whispered in Dan’s ear, and he earned a hit with a pillow in return.

They silently giggled into pillows for several minutes, having to hide their faces whenever they looked at each other, because that just prompted more laughter. Phil heard the others shuffle away from the door, and relaxed a little.

Dan looked at Phil contemplatively when they had finally calmed down a little. His thoughts were coming in hazy lines now, as the effects of the shots began to wash over him. He idly studied Phil’s face, not caring that he was staring.

He had never really noticed that Phil’s top lip was shaped like the apex of a heart, or that his lips were so red. That was probably the fault of the booze, but then again, so were these observations.

“What?”

“You’re pretty.”

“You’re drunk.”

“So are you.”

“Not as much.”

“True,” Dan said lazily. He swallowed hard, trying to regain control over his thoughts. “You know, maybe they are onto something.”

“They’re being drunk idiots.”

“What? You don’t want to kiss me?”

“Dan.”

“What? Does the thought repulse you that much?”

 _“Dan,”_ Phil repeated, at a loss of anything else to say.

“Fine,” Dan said, crossing his arms.

He shouldn’t be so upset, but he was. The thought that Phil didn’t want to kiss him, not even a little, made his stomach twist uncomfortably. It was ridiculous, really, and even more ridiculous that his friends’ immature behavior had nearly worked on him. He shook his head furiously, but it didn’t help him clear it.

Phil placed a hand on Dan’s knee. Dan looked up at him.

“You okay, Bear?”

“Yeah, guess I’m having a hard time forming clear thoughts.”

Phil nodded sympathetically, but couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Alright, sex monkeys, seven minutes are up!” Jack yelled from the other side of the door.

Phil smiled mischievously, and gave Dan a stern look that said ‘trust me’.

“Just a second,” Phil called, ruffling both of their hair. He unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt, and made a motion for Dan’s jeans. Dan gave him a confused look, but he only continued, and undid Dan’s belt. He stood up, taking Dan by the hand with him.

Dan finally comprehended what he was doing, and put on his best guilty face. Phil opened the door, looking sheepishly at his friends.

“Was that only seven minutes?” Dan slurred, throwing an arm over Phil’s shoulder. “Time flies.”

Ben seemed to buy what they were selling, looking exceedingly pleased with himself. The other three looked less convinced, but were still quite giggly. When Dan’s sluggish brain caught up with reality, he was thankful for Phil at least making an effort to pacify the others.

“Alright, I think that’s enough party for one night,” Louise said, doing up Phil’s buttons and smoothing his collar. She checked her watch. “Oh, dear, is that the time already?” Time for you all to get out of here,” she said to Jack, Ben, and Tom.

“You’re kicking us out? What about them?” Jack said indignantly.

“They’ve been here all day, they need rest,” said Louise. “You three took a cab here, correct?”

“Yes,” Tom confirmed, getting his phone out. “I’ll call another.”

“Good,” said Louise, who started to grab empty shot glasses and bowls from the floor. Phil helped, and followed her to the kitchen.

“Thanks,” she said as he handed her a few bottles to rinse out.

“Yeah, you too - for letting us stay here, I mean. I don’t think Dan would make it onto the tube at this rate.”

“Anytime. Also,” she said, lowering her voice a little, “it was the least I could do after not stopping them from making you two do that. I’m sorry.”

Phil shook his head. “Don’t be, they were just joking around.”

“Alright. But I figured you really wouldn’t want to face the aftermath so that’s why I’ve told them to go.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. Dan’s a bit upset.”

“I heard.”

He shot her an incredulous look.

“What? I was curious.”

The other four entered the kitchen, carrying bottles and dirty shot glasses. Phil laughed along at Ben’s jokes, but kept shooting concerned glances at Dan. Dan remained in the corner, conspicuously silent and distant. Phil moved to stand next to him, still involved in the conversation, but clearly trying to draw Dan back in. Their hands brushed with abnormal frequency, which seemed to calm Dan, so Phil relaxed as well . Dan had thawed enough to see Ben, Jack and Tom off properly, but immediately withdrew to the guest room.  

Phil sighed, and trekked after Dan, wondering if he wanted to save this conversation for the morning. But before he could open his mouth, Louise had appeared in the door, toothbrushes and pyjama pants in hand.

“Sorry I’ve only got one bed,” she said, setting the items on the bed.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Phil insisted. Dan had already gone into the bathroom.

“Goodnight, then,” she said with a small smile, and closed the door behind her.

They brushed their teeth silently and hastily. Phil bumped elbows with Dan purposely, finally earning a smile from Dan. Phil could hardly stand seeing Dan upset, but there wasn’t anything to do, really. He knew Dan might not even remember this in the morning, and, frankly, he was hoping that would be the case.

Dan had climbed into bed already, so Phil turned off the light and felt his way back to the bed. He buried himself under the covers, his back facing Dan’s, feeling incredibly guilty.

If had he learned anything that night, it was that Ben ought not to be trusted when drunk. And that you should be careful about how you reject your best friend’s drunk advances. And that overthinking the genuineness of said advances was painful and confusing.

Phil felt Dan turn over, towards him, and he turned over as well. It was too dark to see Dan’s face, but Phil knew he was awake.

“Sweet dreams, Phil,” Dan whispered.

“Night, sleepy Bear.”

x

Dan stirred, his head pounding slightly. He felt like he hadn’t moved in days. He was lying flat on his stomach, his limbs spread out slightly. He rolled his shoulders, clenching his eyes shut. Something warm lay beside him, and he came to enough to realize it was Phil.

He opened his eyes cautiously, and Phil’s sleeping form met his eyes. Phil mirrored his position, one of his arms stretched towards Dan. Dan shifted, and realized that Phil’s hand was laying on top of his, Phil’s fingers filling the gaps between his own. Dan smiled and attempted to sit up without moving his hand, but his head vehemently protested the movement, so he flopped back onto the sheets in defeat.

The events of the previous night clouded his consciousness with an annoying lack of clarity. He remembered going to Louise’s, their friends coming over, drinking something cherry flavored…

And then he was shut in this very room to snog Phil for seven minutes. He had, in his drunken stupor, hinted that he wanted to try it, and Phil had refused him.  _Fucking shit_ _,_  he cursed himself.

He was stupid; it was obviously a joke, and he was stupid to have taken it seriously. What did he even want out of it? To really snog Phil? His stomach filled with butterflies, or the urge to vomit, or both; he really couldn’t tell.

But the thing that was hardest to decipher was his hand entwined with Phil’s. Why had Phil reached out to him? He remembered acting cold after they had been released from the room, mostly just to prevent himself from saying anything else dumb. Had Phil tried to comfort him? It was all too fuzzy to interpret.

After a while of self-loathing, Dan heard Phil stir beside him. He sighed, bracing himself for the moment that he’d have to face what he had done. Phil came to slowly, curling his fingers around Dan’s hand and reaching with his other hand to the bedside table to retrieve his glasses. Dan squeezed back.

“Morning, sunshine,” Dan said, his voice coming out ten times hoarser than he had anticipated. He cleared his throat.

“Morning,” Phil said, sitting up and releasing Dan’s hand to rub his eyes under his glasses. “I thought I was seeing things because it’s so pink in here.”

“I’ll say,” Dan said distractedly. He took a deep breath and sat up, mirroring Phil’s cross-legged position. He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the pounding that had made its way into his ears. “Phil, listen, about last night…”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s not even worry about it,” Phil insisted, and Dan could have sworn his cheeks had gone red.

“No, I have to get this out. Look, I’m sorry for overreacting. It was a stupid dare and I shouldn’t have taken it seriously. I don’t know what I was even thinking.”

Phil looked conflicted, but steeled himself and responded. “Dan, I’m sorry. I’m the one who should be sorry. I - I don’t want you to think that the thought of kissing you makes me crack up uncontrollably or repulses me or whatever.”

Dan froze, and his heart seemed to grow wings and flutter about his chest cavity in the most gloriously uncomfortable way.

“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

 _“Please_  don’t make me say it again,” Phil pleaded. He could feel a blush creeping up his neck.

“Well, same goes for you, then.” Dan muttered, avoiding eye contact. “I mean, can you blame me for wanting to at least try it? For fuck’s sake, everyone, strangers, our subscribers, even our friends think there’s something going on here that we’re not acknowledging.”

Phil gave a strained laugh, and tried meeting Dan’s gaze, but Dan wouldn’t meet his eyes. Phil gently turned Dan’s face towards him.

There was something sincere in Dan’s eyes: a vulnerability that rarely showed. Dan’s beautiful morning self didn’t help Phil’s distraction, either. The sun that streamed through the blinds created striped rays of light on Dan’s bare shoulders. Phil swallowed, his train of thought now running down a completely different track.

He looked back up at Dan’s face and continued, “Maybe there is,” he said, almost inaudibly. “I just - I was worried that you might be offended. ‘Cause it’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you -” Phil stopped, wanting to pull the words back from the air, but it was too late. If he was going to cross that line, he might as well do it properly.

“…Because I did. Well, I  _do_. I just, uh, didn’t really know how,” he admitted slowly. His cheeks were on fire. He looked up at Dan, expecting God-knows-what from his reaction, but Dan’s expression was soft.

“How to kiss, you mean?”

“Yeah… I mean, you heard my story last night. I’ve kissed people before. But it wasn’t really  _proper_ kissing. It was more like experimental face-licking, especially with that girl. I can’t even remember her name, actually. It never meant anything.”

Dan laughed. “Oh, I’ve had my fair share of that. But it’s really easy once you get the hang of it. Comes naturally, really.”

“I don’t think it has for me. I mean, I’m terrible at it. It’s embarrassing. And if I were going to go there - I needed to do it right.”

“I know what you mean.” Dan gulped, steeling himself. “But maybe you shouldn’t - we shouldn’t worry so much about making it perfect.”

“Maybe not,” Phil agreed, staring down into his lap. “I just hoped that our first kiss would just  _happen_ _,_  you know?”

“Me too. But this doesn’t count. It never would have ‘just happened’ if you weren’t confident in your kissing abilities, like you said,” Dan insisted, gently squeezing Phil’s knee.

Phil nodded in agreement. “I guess, I’m just…”

“Nervous? I am too.”

“Really?”

In response, Dan grabbed Phil’s hand and placed it on his bare chest. Phil felt Dan’s heartbeat beneath the warmth of his skin; it was quite fast.

“It does that when you’re around,” Dan said quietly.

Phil gave him a shy smile. It was reassuring to know that Dan was anxious too. After all, they had spent years so carefully constructing the boundaries of their relationship. But, that seemed entirely for naught now.

Phil steeled himself, snaking his hand from Dan’s chest to his shoulder. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Dan’s. Dan’s mouth was warm and soft, and pressed back against Phil’s gently. Unable to gather enough nerve to continue, he pulled away quickly.

Dan smirked. “Not bad, if I were your grandma.”

Phil scowled, leaning in again, this time kissing him with more force. Dan just shrugged, feigning indifference just to frustrate Phil, which was quite entertaining.

“What was wrong with that?” Phil asked, scowling.

“For one thing, you’re supposed to use your hands, too.”

“Let me guess: along with your mediocre Pacman and claw machine skills, you’re also the ‘master’ of kissing.”

“You want proof, then? Fine.”

Dan jutted forward and kissed Phil hard.

“Now compare that to this.” Dan cradled the underside of Phil’s jaw with one hand, and placed the other at Phil’s hip. Dan kissed him again, exactly the same way, but this time holding him close and scratching at the fine hairs at the back of Phil’s neck.

“See the difference?” he asked, pulling back. “You wouldn’t kiss your grandma like that.”

“I see,” Phil said, a little out of breath. “And what if I want to kiss my, err…”

Dan immediately understood Phil’s inability to find the right word. He was hinting at a much heavier conversation that he did not want to have at the moment; about what they were to each other now that all of this previously unacknowledged desire was out in the open. But Phil seemed to understand that that could wait a while.

“My Dan,” he finished. Dan grinned, a fresh blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“Right. Well, you have to do it like this.”

Dan placed his hands on either side of Phil’s face and took Phil’s top lip between both of his, and let them glide over it. He repeated this action, and Phil reciprocated quickly, kissing him back over and over again, pulling back only to adjust the angle of his head slightly. Their lips moulded together, meeting for increasingly long durations as Phil’s fingertips ran up and down the smooth plane of Dan’s back.  

Phil pulled back, resting his forehead against Dan’s. “What should I do next, oh wise one?” he asked mockingly.

“I think you’ve got the hang of it,” Dan muttered, and swung one of his legs over Phil’s lap to straddle him. Phil’s hands glided down to Dan’s hips and their mouths reconnected briefly. Phil kissed his way down Dan’s neck, sending a chill up Dan’s spine. Dan ran his fingers through Phil’s hair, gripping the dark locks as though his life depended on it.

“Am I doing this right?” Phil asked innocently.

“I resent your sarcasm as I am in no condition to retaliate,” Dan said, another shiver running up his spine as Phil nibbled the sensitive skin above his collarbone. He cocked his head to the side to give Phil better access. Phil continued to leave a mark, sighing in satisfaction when he heard Dan’s breath catch in his throat.

Dan pushed on Phil’s shoulders, flattening him against the sheets and slotting their mouths together once more. Dan ran his tongue along Phil’s bottom lip, asking permission, and Phil opened his mouth to allow him in. Their tongues danced around each other’s mouths, exploring the uncharted territory.

Dan pulled away, peppering kisses from Phil’s jaw to his ear. “Is this alright?” he whispered.

“‘Course it is,” Phil mumbled. “Stop thinking so hard. It’s only me, right?”

“Exactly, that’s why I want this to be perfect,” he murmured into Phil’s neck.

“I thought we shouldn’t do that.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Dan,” Phil said, tugging at his arms so Dan would look at him. Dan propped himself over Phil, one hand on either side of his head. “You don’t have to try to make it perfect. You never have.”

Phil took Dan’s face in hands, and pressed his lips to Dan’s, harder and slower than before. He hoped to convey wordlessly what Dan didn’t seem to understand.

Dan relaxed, melting into Phil’s touch, letting the warm, fluttering feeling in his gut guide him.

They both froze when a timid knock came at the door.

“Phil? Dan? Are you awake?” Louise asked quietly.

“Yes,” Phil called.

“Well, I have breakfast ready whenever you are,” she replied.

Dan sighed, climbing off of Phil. “To be continued?”

“Yes,” Phil said, stealing another kiss.

x

To her credit, Louise acted oblivious to the situation, if she even knew. Phil strongly suspected that she did; after all, she had known how to handle everything last night without asking. Mother’s intuition, he figured.

They thanked her profusely for her hospitality, and promised to sort out the editing of the videos they had filmed later. It was almost one in the afternoon, and they had to go home, shower, and be at the BBC by 4pm.

Dan didn’t seem to care that they were in public, and leaned on Phil’s shoulder the whole tube journey home.

The radio show was great that night. They were bursting with energy, falling over themselves (and each other, more than once) with laughter. Tumblr would probably be in flames when they checked it, given the number of times they just stared at each other, eager to get home.

Phil collapsed onto the couch, finally taking a deep breath. Dan shamelessly climbed on top of him, taking a moment to appreciate how casually he could do so. He pressed a kiss to Phil’s nose.

“Long day, huh?”

“I’ll say,” Phil said, sitting up and sighing. “Guess we have to have The Talk, then?”

“Well, you see, when a mummy loves a daddy -”

“I swear I will push you off this couch.”

Dan laughed, climbing off of Phil and sitting beside him.

“I’ve been thinking about that, and I’ve decided that we’re already married,” said Dan.

_“What?”_

“Think about it, Phil. We’ve lived together for years. We share everything we own. We go grocery shopping together. We eat together. We get ready for bed at the same time. We work together. Everyone we know, and don’t know, sees us as a unit. And, not to mention, we don’t have sex.”

Phil contemplated that for a moment.

“Add that with all the talk about kids and settling down and shit -” Dan continued.

“Dan, I think we’re married.”

They finally looked up at each other, and started cracking up.

“How long have we been married?” Phil wondered aloud.

“A while, I think. We’re not even in the fun stage. We’re positively fucking  _domestic_.”

They laughed again, leaning into each other.

“So remember how you want to settle down? Well, congrats, you are. And you’re stuck with me,” said Dan, taking Phil’s hand in his and lacing their fingers together.

“For how long?”  Phil groaned in mock agony.

“As long as you’ll have me.”

“I dunno, marriage is hard, after all,” Phil said wryly. “Could we maybe go back to the honeymoon stage for a while?”

“Fine by me. That’s the only one that includes sex, so…” Dan couldn’t even continue, he was laughing way too hard to form words. “I mean, if that’s something you wanted to do, eventually,” Dan said, when he collected himself, a blush creeping up his cheeks because of his own bluntness. Phil kissed him softly, still getting used to the idea that he could now do that whenever he wanted.

“You’re adorable when you’re shy. Marriages ought to be consummated, after all.”

“I never thought I’d hear you say any of those words; who even are you?”

“Yours,” said Phil, giving Dan’s hand a squeeze.

“Fucking finally, now that I think about it,” Dan said, bemused. “And I, yours.”


End file.
